


For Life's Sake

by SailorSol



Series: The Wizard's Oath [2]
Category: Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Female Characters, Female Friendship, Female Jewish Character, Female Protagonist, Female-Centric, Gen, Israeli character(s), Jewish Character, Jewish Holidays, POV Female Character, POV Jewish Character, War, Wizard's Oath, Wizards, ל"ג בעומר | Lag BaOmer, עברית | Hebrew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-12
Updated: 2014-03-12
Packaged: 2018-01-15 12:28:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1304878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorSol/pseuds/SailorSol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Wizard's Oath is very clear about fighting or killing--isn’t it? </p><p>Na'ama struggles with what it means to be both a wizard and an Israeli, and how sometimes her beliefs seem to conflict one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Life's Sake

**Author's Note:**

  * For [batyatoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/batyatoon/gifts).



> Once again, love and thanks to H. for help with research, characterization, and an awesome graphic.
> 
> This story is set during Wizards at War, with Carmela recruiting wizards to help Nita and Kit. Once again, see the end for cultural notes and translations.

With three days until _Erev Lag BaOmer_ , Na’ama’s grandfather should have been preparing for the Hilula at Safed. Aside from the Three Pilgrimages and the Day of Atonement, this was the biggest holiday her family celebrated, so Na’ama had been shocked to find that her grandfather hadn’t even started gathering the components for the spells that were part of the ritual.

She clutched her manual tightly as she dodged across traffic. Only a few months ago, she would have headed towards her cousin Netan’el‘s _yeshiva_. Netan’el was closest to her in age, and they had gone on their Ordeal together. But his time studying had come to an end with the end of Adar, a month and a half before, and he was now in basic training. He would be at Safed for the Hilula.

Her knuckles whitened around her manual. Na’ama would turn 17 in Cheshvan, which meant she needed to decide in only a few months whether she would join the military; her family was observant, which gave her the option to not serve. Of her generation, only her cousin Ori had decided not to, opting for National Service instead. But the idea of war frightened Na’ama.

_In Life’s name and for Life’s sake._

Those were the first words of the Oath she had spoken when she had been fourteen. She was a wizard, like her parents and her parents’ parents, an unbroken family line that could be traced back generations. Na’ama’s specialty leaned more towards fixing things and bringing new life. But there were some things she couldn’t fix, like the haunted look her brother Me’ir had come home with from the Second Lebanon War the previous summer. Her brother’s best friend and tank mate Eyal hadn’t come home at all.

Na’ama was so distracted by her thoughts and worries that she was startled by the strange girl with the stranger accent pulling her aside before she could walk into a bench. It was unlike any American accent she had ever heard before, with randomly dropped consonants and something that was almost a lisp. Na’ama had a hard time understanding her, but Carmela was bright and bubbly despite the news about a wizarding war.

_I will use the Art for nothing but the service of that Life._

How often had she read those words in the last two years? She had cried onto the pages of her manual the day the Second Lebanon War had started, yet another Calamity on the sixteenth of Tammuz, and this time too many of her family members were involved. And now a stranger was asking Na’ama to make a decision she shouldn’t have needed to make until November.

_I will guard growth and ease pain._

Israel was as safe as it ever was, and her family was not actually in danger. Her parents had almost lost one child, and this kind of war would be no less deadly than the kind fought with guns and rockets. Na’ama had been asking herself for months now whether it was fair to put her parents through that kind of anguish again.

_I will fight to preserve what grows and lives well in its own way._

Could she really say no, turn her back on this war and think only of her family, her People, and not all the wizards on Earth? How many other children were risking their lives already? Carmela wasn’t even a wizard, but she was willing to fight to help her brother.

“ _Tzav Shmone_ ,” she whispered, looking towards a group of soldiers barely older than her. How many of them had been touched by grief and bereavement? And yet they all chose to fight.

_To these ends, in the practice of my Art, I will put aside fear for courage, and death for life, when it is right to do so._

She straightened her shoulders and looked Carmela in the eyes.

“ _Ken._ What do you need me to do?”

_Till Universe’s end._

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> Erev Lag BaOmer: "Eve of Lag BaOmer", a holiday celebrating both the death of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who revealed the mysteries of kabbalah in the form of the Zohar, and the Bar Kokhba revolt. For Na'ama's family, whose wizardry is based heavily on kabbalah, this would be one of their biggest holidays of the year. For most Israelis, it is a holiday celebrating the stubborn tenacity of the Jewish people. The traditional form of celebration is bonfires, with the largest celebration being held at Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's grave in Safed at Mt. Meron. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lag_BaOmer
> 
> Three Pilgramages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalosh_regalim
> 
> Yeshiva: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeshiva, A Yeshiva is a school of Jewish religious studies. It may be a high school or an institute of higher learning. Some Modern Orthodox men in Israel choose to combine a shortened military service with a period of yeshiva studies. Yeshivot at which it is possible to do so are called Yeshivot Hesder, "Arrangement Yeshivot": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesder. The matter of Yeshivot Hesder is controversial, deemed insufficiently religious by some and an insult to the words "military service" by others.
> 
> Observant women (of all levels of observance) are not subject to the draft. They may choose to serve in the military under the usual regulations, to do Social Service (typically in teaching and care professions) or to not serve at all. Though historically the vast majority of Observant women chose not to serve, military service is increasing in popularity in recent years. This is the subject of much heated debate in Israeli sub-societies. The draft is issued at the age of 17.


End file.
